Joseph Shapiro stands outside the Wooden Spoon, where he was assaulted on the sidewalk along Market Street as he exited the restaurant, on June 23.

When Joseph Shapiro sat down to enjoy a stack of pancakes in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood earlier this month, the last thing he imagined was that paramedics would soon be loading him into an ambulance and racing him to the hospital. 

But moments after Shapiro stepped out of Sunday brunch at the Wooden Spoon restaurant on June 7, he felt a fist connect hard with his upper right chest. 

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Stunned and bent over from what he described to me as “sharp pain,” Shapiro, a 71-year-old retiree, didn’t see the face of his assailant — just his black hoodie and silver backpack as he walked away.  

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Unable to take more than shallow breaths, Shapiro called 911. He was whisked to the UCSF Parnassus emergency room, where doctors determined his chest wall and muscles had been bruised and gave him a breathing device called an incentive spirometer to help keep his lungs open and prevent pneumonia, according to medical records I reviewed. 

Weeks later, Shapiro told me he’s still dealing with significant pain from the random assault. It hurts to cough or sneeze, and he struggles to lift his right arm above his chest.  

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The emotional damage may be even worse.

Shapiro, a singer in the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, was looking forward to a jubilant Pride Month full of outdoor celebrations and community events. Now, instead of feeling lighthearted and carefree, he’s weighed down by worry.  

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“To go out into the Castro and wonder if there’s somebody around the corner who may attack me — it puts a whole different cloud over the month of June,” Shapiro told me.  

He’s now........

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